February 12, 2021 | By Pam Vanderbilt, CPC, CPMA, CPPM, CPC-I, CEMC, CEMA, CEMA-O A few weeks ago, NAMAS presented a webinar about 2021 time and prolonged services. The flood of participant questions made it very obvious there is still uncertainty about how to appropriately use time to select the level of office…
May 14, 2021 | By Jill Young, CPC, CEDC, CIMC The time has come for you to consider the “new time” method to determine the evaluation and management (E&M) coding for your office and other outpatient services. I use the phrase “new time” to differentiate it from the “old time” concept you are accustomed…
March 26, 2021 | By Grant Huang, CPC, CPMA If you thought some of the language in the 2021 E/M guidelines was confusing, you’re not the only one: The AMA has gotten enough questions about its new guidelines to issue a six-page document packed with clarifications and corrections. The document also includes an additional three pages…
December 31, 2019 | By Stephanie Allard, CPC, CEMA, RHIT As of January 1, 2020, CPT made changes to the health and behavior assessment and intervention codes (96150-96155) and therapeutic interventions that focus on cognitive function (97127). If you code and audit services in this category, you must pay close attention to…
March 27, 2020 | By Grant Huang, CPC, CPMA The recent coronavirus crisis has brought non-face-to-face services to the forefront of coding and billing conversations. With the entire healthcare industry focused on caring for patients during an unprecedented and fast-moving pandemic, the goal of increasing patient access while reducing the risk of spreading infection…
April 17, 2020 | By Priscilla J. Alfaro, MD, FAAP, CPC, CPMA, COC, CFE ICD-10 was finally officially implemented on October 1, 2015. One of the intents of moving to ICD-10 was to enable and encourage reporting diagnoses with a higher level of specificity. Many payers expect claims to contain specific codes to support the…
October 23, 2020 | By Grant Huang, CPC, CPMA It’s not even 2021 yet, but gray areas have already surfaced in the 2021 E/M documentation guidelines, as more and more coders and auditors read the fine print. The 2021 guidelines, which will apply only to outpatient/office visit codes 99202-99215, are being implemented in part…
January 1, 2021 | By Shannon DeConda, CPC, CEMC, CEMA, CPMA, CRTT While conducting a 2021 E&M Physician Training event for a client, like right in the middle of the session, I had an epiphany. Now maybe you have already had it- but I thought- WOW- we have made the full circle right back around…
May 1, 2020 | By Stephanie Allard, CPC, CEMA, RHIT Over the years I have found that one of the main risks to an organization are employees who get comfortable in their positions to the point where the explanation for or response to an audit variance is “that is how we have always…
May 29, 2020 | By Kari M Keller, CCS, CPC, CPMA, CEMA, CIRCC, CPC-I, CCDS-O | Senior Manager Coding Quality, Inova Health System Those who know me best know that I am an absolute optimist. I can find the positive in almost everything. So, what has this stay-at-home order impacted? We slowed our lives down. We…